‘Fantastic beasts’ of Harry Potter to go on display at the Natural History Museum

On display: JK Rowling's creations will be on show this spring
Harry Fletcher8 January 2020

The "fantastic beasts" of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter universe are set to go on display at the Natural History Museum.

A new exhibition opening in the spring will focus on “creatures from the natural, mythical and the wizarding world”, exploring how myth and legend inspired Rowling's fictional creations.

The character Newt Scamander – a Magizoologist played by Eddie Redmayne in the Fantastic Beasts films – will feature in the display, alongside the likes of the Erumpent horn and the dragon skull from Professor Lupin’s classroom. They will sit alongside real world objects including giant oarfish, the world’s longest bony fish, which is thought to be the inspiration for mythical sea serpents around the world.

Footage from the films and material from the BBC Natural History Unit will be used to “show how closely real world animals, mythological creatures and wizarding world beasts are intertwined”.

The exhibition, which comes in partnership with Warnes Bros, will be accompanied by a BBC documentary voiced by Stephen Fry, which traces the origins of the mythical creatures.

Harry Potter Films - In pictures

1/33

Fry said: “I could not be more delighted to be a part of this magnificent opportunity for us Muggles to show the wizarding world that the fantastic beasts in our world are more than a match for theirs.

“We hope to be able to bring you closer than you’ve ever been to some of the most spectacular and extraordinary creatures ever seen.”

Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature will run for seven months before heading out on an international tour.

Additional reporting by PA

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in